Stereopticon slide



Feb. 25, 1941. L L R 2,233,134

' STEREOYPTICON SLIDE Filed Dec 10, 1938 2 Sheets-She et 1 INVENTOR BLouis llessler ELM/64 W ATTORNEY Feb. 25, 1941. l... KESSLERSTEREOPTICON SLIDE "Filed Dec. 10, 1938 lNVE N lOR Louzs Kssler BY 2 7 2Sheets-Sheet 2 M ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 2,233,134 STEREOITICON SLIDE Louis Kessler, New York, N. Y.

Application December 10, 1938, Serial No. 244,956 4 Claims. (Cl. 88-26)This invention relates toprojector or stereeptate. In one form thestationary plate is opaque ticon slides and particularly concerns aslide for substantially its entire extent where oppowhere one or morediscs suitably marked are site the discs except for two windows. Thewincaused to rotate and the movement indicated on dows are radiallyoffset from each other and a 5 a screen. i disc with markings adapted toregister with one Heretofore slides of this type have been made windowis provided as well as another disc with uniformly thin so that theycould be slid latmarkings a pted t register with the other erallyinto-position in the projector from either window. More windows andadditional discs direction. This was done especially where the can beused within the scope. of the invention to 10.; slide was electricallyoperated, at a sacrifice to p v other Variations of the indications p 19the electrical driving means. In my invention J'e ed on the screen. Inanother form the stathe slide is enlarged at one end to contain an ry pe is p q bu has a transparent electrical driving means such as a motorhaving Ting Containing markings a d ad a onsn a, substantial Size coiland pole pieces as well as addition be this ring the plate has anothertransan armature shaft of sufiicient length to have a parent rihg- Thesea pa rings a e n 15 strik tt h d th t Th driving means their broadestsense in the nature of windows. comes on top when my slide is mounted onthe The t ms opaque and tra p as u projector, aid slide being inserteddownward in the specification and claims are intended to be instead ofsideways as heretofore. In the prior relative only. t former letting roh consid- 20 art a frame, which can hold two slides side by ereble lesslight than the latter. 20 side, is slidably mounted on the front of theother Objects and advantages Will b e approjector so that first oneslide can be set in parent p further study f the e r p i n and front ofthe light rays and then the other. Said drawings in W prior art slidesare made opposite hand to each 11 is a side elevation of y slide shown iother so that their indicating ends come next p e-Ce inaprojector. 25 toeach other when two of them are mounted 2 is a front elevation of t sthe side by side in a frame, the ends containing markings 011 reel slidebeing ee ou h the driving mechanism being away from each the i'o t Clearglass P other. With my slide where the driving mecha- 3 is a sectiontaken a g t e l ne 33 nism is. above the indicating or transparent porofFig. 30 tion of the slide when mounted on the projector, 4 is sectiontaken a o g t e line 44 no opposite hand slides are required in case twoof 3, the reel marked slide b g emoved. .of th are used d by side in aframe They Fig. 5 is an elevation of the front number disc all fit thesame way so that there is no possibility of 3 shown y i elfof insertingthem incorrectly and having the Fig. 6 is an elevation of the rearnumber disc 35 image come out reversed or upside down on the o 4 shownbyse screen as with the opposite hand slides of the is a View of thebottom p n o prior art. The electrical driving means need not anotherform of my slide, t d n mechanism be within the casing of the slide,although this being Omitted except r e s iker and its 40 is preferable,but may be mounted outside said mounting- 4 casing. In my mechanism,instead of, as hereto- Fig. 8 is a p t f ont elevation of the slidefore, having the rotor of the motor directly conshowing the marking onthe o t p a e and the nested tothe rotating indicating disc, I use andiscs behind Where y Show through t e o t electrically driven memberwhich has a striker p p e elevation being to a s mewhat onmountedthereon which striker in turn lashes the r d scale oVer'Fig- 45 discs,so that the latter may rotate, when once '9 a partial section taken on te'iine struck, under their own momentum independently o i 8- i of theelectrically driven member. This per- Fig. 10 is an elevation of thefront marker disc mits, an electrically driven mechanism, a of Fig. 9shown by itself.

greater freedom of rotation for the disc-s and Fig. 11 is an elevationof the middle marker 50 makes possible the independent rotation of adisk of Fig. 9 shown by itself, and plurality of discs. Fig. 12 is anelevation of the rear marker disc A further object of my invention isthe proviof Fig. 9 shown by itself. sion of a stationary plate having awindow or The light ray projector I3 has mounted therewindows thereinbehind which marked discs roin the stereo-pticon slide 14. Said slidehas a 5 housing, the upper front portion |5 of which is bulged out toprovide, with a rear plate IS, an enlarged chamber I! to hold electricmotor |8. Slide I4 is mounted on projector |3 by sliding the flanges 10of the housing down into a frame 1| slidably mounted on the front of theprojector. A frame slidably mounted on the front of the projector, suchas that shown at II, is Well known in the art, except that prior framesreceived the slides laterally instead of vertically downward as in myconstruction. Prior frames usually are of sufiicient width to hold twoslides side by side. It is evident that in my construction two slidescan also be mounted side by side in a frame 7|. The object of two slidesin a frame, as in the prior art, is that first one slide can be broughtinto the path of the light from the projector and then quickly the otherinto said path. Slide M by having an enlarged chamber I1 is able tohouse a substantial size motor |8 or other driving means. Also mountedin said chamber is plug socket l9 adapted to receive connecting plug 20.Connected to plug 20 by cord 2| is a push button 22, said cord beingconnected into a power circuit, through leads -44, so that when button22 is pressed, current is sent through motor l8. While motor l8 and plugsocket |9 are preferably inside a chamber they could also be mounted onthe outside of the housing of slide M in which case it would not benecessary to provide a specially enlarged chamber.

Mounted on armature shaft 23 is a hub 24 which carries a flexiblestriker 25. The lower front portion of the housing of slide I4 isprovided with a circular window 26 in which is mounted a clear pane ofglass 21. The lower rear portion of the housing is open. A plate 28 isfastened to the bottom of the housing. Plate I6 is fastened to the upperrear portion. Both these plates overhang opening 30 at the rear of thelower portion of the housing, providing guides for holding marked slide3|. When the light of projector l3 shines through slide 3|, its markingsare projected through clear glass pane 21 onto the screen, the latternot being shown.

Fixed to pane 21 is a pin 32. Rotatably mounted on pin 32 are number andmark discs 33 and 34. These discs are shown with teeth on theirperiphery, but said teeth are not essential especially where a flexiblestriker, as striker 25, is used. No teeth are provided for discs 53, 56and 59, Figs. 10, 11 and 12, as will be explained hereafter.

Marked slide 3| is opaque except for windows 38 and 39, central portion31 and rings 40 and 4| which are transparent. Disc 33 has a ring ofnumerals, letters and graduations 42 at a predetermined radial distancefrom its axis of rotation. Window 39 is at substantially the same radialdistance from said axis although a little narrowen radially than ring42, whereby the markings comprising ring 42 will appear successively atwindow 39 while the graduations will appear in rings 40 and 4|. Disc 34also has a ring of numerals, letters and graduations 43 which isat alesser radial distance from its axis of rotation than that of ring 42.Window 38 is at substantially the same radial distance from said axisalthough a little narrower radially than ring 43 whereby the markingscomprising ring 43 will appear successively at window 38 while thegraduations will appear in ring 4| and central portion 31. Thedifference in radial distance between rings 42 and 43 is sufficientlygreat that they do not overlap each other.

In playing the game, of which slide 4 is an instrument, as is the customin screen games, the individual members of the audience of a movingpicture theater are each given a card, each card having thereon amarking or combination of markings. Someone is then selected to pressbutton 22 which is located upon the stage, connecting cord 2| beingsufliciently long for this purpose. The pressing of button 22 causesmotor |8 to be energized, spinning hub 24 and with it striker 25 in aclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4. The release of button 22, letsmotor I8 stop running. As striker 25 rotates it lashes the periphery ofeach of discs 33 and 34 causing them to spin. When the discs stopspinning, a marking of ring 42 will appear at window 39, and a markingof ring 43 will appear at window 38. With slide l4 mounted in projectorl3, the windows with the markings will appear on the screen. Thoseholding cards whose markings coincide with those appearing at thewindows are winners. Many arrangements of markings may be used both onthe discs and on the cards and the winners can be those whose cardmarkings coincide with those shown at the windows once or a number oftimes. Only two windows are shown in the above game but it can bereadily understood that more windows could be used providing at the sametime a corresponding number of discs with complementary rings ofmarkings are employed.

In Figs. 7-12 is shown a-modification of my slide in which only one boxWindow is shown.

Mounted in the lower portion of front wall 45 of the slide is a frontplate 46. This plate is opaque except at ring 5| where the graduations41 and numerals 48 occur, and at ring 49. There is also a transparentwindow 59. Fastened to plate 46, with its longitudinal axis coincidentwith the center of rings 49 and 5| is pivot pin 52. Rotatably mounted onpin 52 just behind plate 46 is a disc 53 having a star symbol 54 markedthereon. An index 55 forming an extension of the symbol extends radiallyoutward from star 54. Star 54 is at such a radial distance from thelongitudinal axis of pin 52, that it comes opposite ring 49 on plate 46.Rotatably mounted on pin 52 directly behind disc 53, is disc 56 having aball symbol 51 marked thereon. An index 58 forming an extension of saidsymbol extends radially outward from ball 51. Ball 57 is at the sameradial distance from the longitudinal axis of pin 52 as star 54, so thatit also comes opposite ring 49. Rotatably mounted on pin 52 directlybehind disc 56, is disc 59 having thereon a ring of markings 6|]. Saidlatter ring is at a radial distance from the longitudinal axis of pin52, such that markings 60 may appear at window 50 of plate 46.

When striker 25 lashes all three discs 53, 56 and 59 they are spunaround, stopping in various positions. The action of striker 25 wasexplained in connection with Figs. 3 and 4. In Fig. 8 is shown, by wayof example, one stopping position of the three discs after being spun.The index 58 of ball 51 comes within the box 8 on plate 46. In theplaying of the game it has been announced to the audience or printed onthe cards held by them that the numerals indicated by the index 58 ofball 5! is to represent tens. The index 55 of star 54 comes within thebox 0. It has been prearranged that the index 55 is to represent digits,so that the setting of the discs shown in 'Fig. 8 represents the number80. The holders of the cards having this number make note thereof.Successive spinnings of discs 53 and 56 indicate further numbers whichare noted by the holders of the proper cards until one or more suchholders have the requisite arrangement of numbers to win. By using morediscs with symbols thereon, numbers ,with a greater number of placesthan two can be indicated, the various symbols being assigned tocorrespond to predetermined places in the number. Many combinations ofthe numerals indicated by the symbols may be made other than assigningthem to places in a number, such as adding together the numeralsindicated. Also each of the discs or some of them may have upon themmore than one symbol.

During all this time no attention was paid to the showing of disc 59 atwindow 50. The winning card having been selected, the discs are givenanother spin by pressing the control button, this time attention beingpaid to the showing of disc 59 at window 50 and not to the others.According to a prearranged schedule: the symbol appearing at window 50denotes the prize. In Fig. 8, the fraction appears. This could mean thatthe winner is to receive of the total cash award for the evening.

The windows 38 and 39 in Fig. 2 could also be used to indicate tens anddigits, discs 33 and 34 being numbered from 0 to 9.

The term "box window as used in the claim means an opening orsubstantially transparent area of irregular, circular or polygonalshape, said area being in a part having areas surrounding the windowwhich are opaque or resistant to the passage of light. The windows 38,39 and 50 are examples of box windows.

I claim:

1. A slide apparatus, adapted to be used in a projection machine,comprising an elongated casing divided into an upper enlarged sectionopening into a lower narrow section, said lower section being providedwith opposed light inlet and outlet openings, at least ,two transparentdiscs provided in spaced parallel relation between the planes of saidopenings and each disc having a plurality of indicia on a face thereof,means wholly within said narrow section for rotatably supporting saiddiscs, an impelling device for said discs consisting of solely oneflexible strip, means for rotating said strip about one end thereof,said rotating means comprising an electrical motor located completelywithin said enlarged-section directly above said discs and beingprovided with an armature shaft, said shaft additionally being locatedwholly within said enlarged section, said one end of the strip beingdirectly secured to said shaft, and said shaft being arrangedsubstantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said discs, said stripbeing of a length such that it acts as a direct driving coupling betweensaid shaft and discs whereby rotation of said strip causes the latter tolash said disc peripheries and produce rotation of said discs.

2. A slide apparatus, adapted to be used in a projection machine,comprising a casing having a lower restricted section opening into anupper enlarged section, at least one transparent disc provided in saidlower section, said lower section having opposed light inlet and outletopenings, means arranged axially of said openings for sup-, porting thesaid disc in spaced, parallel relation to said openings whereby light isreadily transmitted through said disc, said disc having indicia thereonto be projected, an electrical motor device located wholly Within saidenlarged section and having a rotatable armature located wholly withinsaid enlarged section, a flexible strip having one end thereofmechanically coupled to said armature whereby the strip is rotated aboutsaid end upon energization of said electrical device, said strip beingsufficiently long to permit its opposite end to strike said discperiphery thereby to provide a direct mechanical driving couplingbetween said armature and disc whereby upon rotation of the strip saiddisc is lashed into rotation,

3. In a slide structure, adapted for use in a projection machine, acasing having a restricted section opening into an enlarged section,said restricted section being provided with a pair of opposedlight-transmission openings, at least one rotatable transparent discpositioned between said openings in spaced relation thereto, a supportpin positioned at the axis of said openings supporting said disc inparallel to the plane of said openings whereby light readily passesthrough the disc, said disc being provided with markings on one facethereof, the axis of rotation of said disc being normal to the planes ofsaid openings, an electrical motor located completely within saidenlarged section, said motor having a shaft located'wholly within saidenlarged section, a flexible disc lashing strip having one end adaptedto contact the disc periphery thereby to provide a direct drivingconnection between said shaft and disc, the opposite end of said stripbeing directly affixed to said shaft for rotation of the strip aboutsaid opposite end upon energization of the motor.

4. A slide structure, adapted for use in a projection machine,comprising a casing having a lower narrow section opening into an upperenlarged section, said lower section having opposed light-transmissionopenings, an opaque plate fixed in one of said openings, said platebeing provided with at least one light-transmission area, at least onetransparent disc positioned between said openings, means supporting saiddisc for rotation about an axis normal to the plane of said plate, saiddisc having markings adapted to register with said area, an electricmotor disposed wholly within said upper section and having a rotatableshaft wholly within said upper section which is parallel to said discaxis of rotation, a flexible striker strip having one end locatedadjacent said disc periodically to strike the disc periphery, said striphaving its other end directly aifixed to said shaft whereby energizationof the motor causes rotation of said strip and results in the latterlashing said disc into rotation.

LOUIS KESSLER.

